mourning the enfant terrible

I'm reeling.

It is difficult to picture the fashion world without Lee Alexander McQueen. I'd like to imagine him having tea right now with his mother and Isabella Blow, in some fantastic, hat filled afterlife.

Best wishes to his family.

Three of many favourites:
Shalom's spray painted ballgown, Kate's angelic hologram, and Deconstruction.

my kingdom for a horse

I went to see a Ryerson Theatre School production of Richard III last night and was completely blown away. It's a modern telling, directed by Canadian dramaturge Ruth Madoc-Jones, who mentions in the program notes that she was influenced by "A Clockwork Orange, The Godfather movies, and an 80s high fashion, high power ethos". It works. I was up half the night thinking about what the 2000 version of Hamlet (Ethan Hawke/Julia Stiles) would have been like in her hands.

Costumes and staging were done with inspired style by Patrick Du Wors. As a lifelong costume fanatic, I'm pretty merciless with wardrobe criticism, but there is nothing I can say about this neo-gothic extravaganza except 'go see it'. Wear something by Rick Owens or Helmut Lang perhaps to get in the mood. I haven't even gotten to the acting yet. Jonathan Sousa leads in the title role, but it's a cast of 19 people, all of whom performed brilliantly. If television roles were given to actors of similar talent (excluding certain shows on HBO and Showtime...), I might actually buy a tv.

The only criticism I have is that this play has been shamefully underpublicized. I'm badgering the marketing people with letters because it drives me crazy that so much work has gone into a production so few people are coming out to. If you're in Toronto, I highly recommend making time for Richard III before it closes on Feb. 11th. I'm going again on Monday - hope to see you there...

8 pm - 11:15 pm at the Ryerson Theatre (43 Gerrard St., College subway). $18 regular, $14 students (cash only).

wishful thinking

It is most uninviting outside today, and I'm feeling an acute desire to trade the howling wind for warm ocean surf. This image from the late '60s by Southern photographer William Eggleston reflects my current headspace pretty accurately. His ability to capture banal moments in such ways that they become beautiful is inspiring to me. Read an interview with Harmony Korine here. His work is currently on exhibit in London and NY (Chicago next month) if you are in the mood for a colourful and eye-opening afternoon out.

turned to glass

Chanel hdq, as seen by the quietly provocative Lina Scheynius.

side saddle, tea and dancing

The Victorian and Edwardian periods hold a particular fascination for me in terms of style and hair adornment. I have whole binders detailing the course of fashion from c. 1870 to 1914, and the first costume I attempted to recreate was the "swim" dress from Titanic:

(La Femme, Adelaide Hills, age 13)

I've been trying to do the grey suit from Moulin Rouge every since. So, it isn't suprising that I adored yesterday's Dior haute couture show. Adore may not be a strong enough word, but superlatives grow tiresome for the lesser obsessed, so I'll just post some photos, starting with the riding habits.

Remember this Vogue editorial with Natalia Vodianova? Sigh.

A 21st century Gibson girl. I have just now died and gone to heaven.

Galliano finished with ballgowns. A little over the top perhaps, but I'll take my swoons where I can get them. His colour palette is inspired. Some of the gowns featured rich combinations of seafoam and petrol, pink and wine, olive, mocha, raspberry...

...and of course I loved the snoods. The streets need more snoods. Check out Casey's blog for some classy 40s snood action.

Dita even smiled. A rare sight on camera. Barring Anna's head shake, I think this may be the test of a collection. Bravo!

photos: wireimage

blue valentine

Forget the red. Let's have more of this please.

(Alexis Mabille Haute Couture, Paris, today)

Isn't the colour blocked hair amazing? I've sworn off hair dye for at least a month, but am sorely tempted to try this out in blue.

This collection brings to mind Grace Coddington's ill fated and reshot editorial in The September Issue. The grey shades of winter leave me numb. I'd love to see extreme colour contrasts on the streets come spring...

Photos: wireimage

la belle personne

Saw this while up North. The bluish grey palette of the film reflected the wintry environment I was watching it in to eerie effect, probably contributing to the impression it made on me.

LBP is based on La Princesse de Clèves, published in 1678 by Madame de Lafayette (definitely someone I would want at my dream dinner party). I adored the English translation in school and was irritated when Nicolas Sarkozy started bashing it, although perhaps I should be grateful as the book has gained popularity since then, as well as inspiring this visually gorgeous adaptation.

Je recommande.

*Likely to induce severe cravings for A.P.C.

New York Times review here.

Photos from google and screencaps from here.

she's no lola

...but she'll do. First photo of the decade, taken with the less crazed of my 2 cats. This one puts up with my travelling so long as I am a willing human chariot at home. As you can see, one of my new year's resolutions is to wear glasses more often. I'm blind as a baby badger without some kind of lenses, but am abstaining from contacts both to justify the expense of my beloved Persols and because contacts are a bother on the road. 23 days and counting. Let's see how I do...

(Another resolution is to cook more often. I'm doing better on the glasses front, but this creation of my mom's is delicious and pretty easy - spinach linguine with rapini and sauteed shrimp).